Breeze: Making of a Ninja
This is a set of short stories written by Sensei PurpleBrick, centering around her main OC, Lin. ''' '''Setting: Season 1 (possibly before) Summary: Lin's rise and fall as Breeze the ninja. Part 1 I looked out from the door of my house, eyes wide like a little child. Honestly, I felt like one, frightened and alone, not knowing where my parents had gone overnight. Man, being a deep sleeper has its consequences... A gentle wind blew, and though it was warm outside, it gave me a strange chill. I shivered but remained in the doorway. I spotted a friend of my parents, Mrs. Warner, coming towards the house. The instant she saw me, she rushed over to my door. "Thank goodness you're alright!" "What's going on?" I asked, stepping outside. "Where are Mom and Dad?" She smiled sadly. "Oh, Linda... I'm so sorry but... They aren't coming back." At first I didn't know what she meant, and was simply a little put off by the fact that she called me Linda. I much prefer being called Lin. Then the awful realization came to me. "Y-you-you mean they're- they're-" I couldn't say the word. Everything hit me like wrecking ball to the soul, and I was shattered. "I'm so sorry, Linda, I'll miss them too." Mrs. Warner hugged me. Had I been left to stand there alone, the shock would have kept me from tears. But somehow comfort pushes me over the edge, and I softly cried into her shoulder. "What- what happened?" "Some man- I don't know who he is- invaded the town last night. He had these magical beings helping him... I'm not sure what they were. They hurt a lot of people... Your parents died defending us." After a few minutes, I pulled away, sniffing and wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. "I don't want to waste any more of your time." "Oh, you aren't, Linda." She said. "I couldn't just leave you here. Do you want to come home with me?" "No- at least not yet." I answered. "I can fend for myself." "As you wish. Oh, I almost forgot. I think your mother would have wanted you to have this." She pulled a necklace from her pocket. I recognized it immediately: It was my mother's pendant that she always wore. I took it and held it in my hand. It was a big silver heart with wispy carvings and a purple gem in the center. I put it on as I thanked her. Seeing I had regained my composure, Mrs. Warner left, promising that I would be welcome in her home whenever I came. I watched the kind lady go. I knew I'd end up at her house eventually, but tor now... I wasn't ready. Ready to make myself part of a family that wasn't my own, close as we were. Even though I didn't have my real family anymore, I wanted to be alone until I could accept it. I went back into my house, looking over the place that was now all mine, I supposed. Not that I wanted it. I spent the rest of the day doing things around the house while trying not to cry. It worked until that night when I had to lock up and turn the lights off myself. I had done this before, but it made me realize I would be doing this every night from now on... I felt tears forming in my eyes. Look at me, getting worked up over the smallest thing... I thought. But it didn't stop the sorrow from coming. I ran to my room, throwing myself on my bed, sobbing. I lay there and cried myself to sleep, wondering what life had for me that was worth living for. Part 2 I spent the next day alone at my house, lost in my own confusion. Nothing seemed real. My brain had seemed to grasp the whole situation the day before, but now it couldn't make sense out of anything that had happened. Had we really been attacked? Had my parents actually died? Was I truly left on my own? Could there be another explanation for all this? Deep down, I knew what happened, and knew it was true, but the rest of me was in shock and couldn't process a thing. I had never been in such a state before. I don't know how long I might have stayed in this mental chaos had there not been a knock on my door early the next morning. I opened it to find Michael, the Warner's oldest son. He was about six months younger than me, and I suppose you could consider him a friend of mine. I don't really know, I'm socially awkward and our relationship confused me in a way. "Hey, Lin," He started. "What is it?" I asked. "We're having a memorial service for... Well, you know, everyone. But we've got to get it done soon before anyone tries to stop us." "Okay, just give me a second." I threw my long, frizzy hair into a ponytail and grabbed my house keys. We headed out, walking side by side through the chilly air and quiet streets. Glancing at him as we trudged along, I pondered out awkward relationship. In the time our families spent together, Micheal always seemed eager to be with me and have my attention, but at the same time acted shy around me. I didn't see why he felt the need to be like that. I was far from popular among our peers, and certainly I wasn't anyone people had to be careful around. Sure, I was sensitive, but I always went out of my way to avoid causing trouble. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him watching me. Whenever I looked at him, he shifted his gaze away. Weird. What's up with him today? We arrived at the town square, where everyone was gathered. And what scared me was that "everyone" was only a fraction of the people that were supposed to make up the town's population. "Is this... All who's left?" I asked in disbelief. Micheal nodded. "Luckily we were all asleep and they passed over our house..." "I'm glad you're all safe," I mumbled. Judging from the crowd, they were one of only a few who escaped unscathed. The service was nice, and the other people there gave me lots of hugs and sympathy, but I felt completely empty. I had lost everything... Nothing mattered to me anymore. I felt bad that I couldn't receive the kindness of the townspeople. Yet at the same time, I felt bad that they were giving it to me in the first place... For they, too, had lost so much. It was a mess for me. By the end of the mass funeral I was crying just as much because I was so confused about everything as I was about losing my parents. I was ready to run away and get back home when Mr. Warner approached me. "I found some other things of your parents' that I thought you might like to keep." I took the oddly shaped bundle from his hands. Thanking him, I headed back home as fast as I could. I slowed as I came close to the house. Clutching the mysterious package Mr. Warner had given me, I wondered what it contained. It was small, hard, and rather heavy. As I headed through the gate and across the yard I felt another gentle wind. It started out feeling warm, then cold. How strange. I went inside and set the bundle on the table to unwrap it. In it was my father's watch, a pair of earrings my mother wore, and two matching daggers. Though I appreciated the thought, the watch and the earrings really weren't worth anything. I knew he had taken them just in case. But the daggers... I had never seen those before, and I was intrigued by them. I studied them with much interest. The silver metal of the blades gleamed in the dim lights of the house. I hadn't turned most of them on yet. The handles were wooden, smooth and stained dark purple. The part between the blade and the handle was shaped in a sideways "S". They were simple, but in my eyes, beautiful. Looking at them gave me a thought: My mother had used these to fight evil. Couldn't I use them to do the same? The threat was still out there. I had something to live for, something to fight for... Everything was clear again. I was surprised when I felt another breeze, considering I was inside the house and all the windows were closed. It must have been one of those weird drafts. But it felt just like the last one: Warm, and then cold. The day was drawing to a close, and I readied myself for bed. It was much easier to sleep that night, and the next day looked as bright as the daggers sitting on the kitchen table. Part 3 My spirits were higher the next day than they had been in as long as I could remember. I sang as I got ready to start my day, feeling unstoppable and powerful as I went out the door- The final chorus of "Going Home" was tragically cut short when I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Why we even had one hanging in the living room, I didn't know. Maybe it was for reality checks like the one I had at that moment. Was I really going to save the village in a purple shirt and jeans? Whoops. I had better fix that... I decided. But how could I look the part of a hero? Colorful, goofy superhero suits were what first came to mind. I laughed. There was no way I could pull that off; I didn't have any superpowers. I thought about the ninja from days past that I liked to read about, real and fictional: Skilled, stealthy warriors, they were trained and fought to defend their homes and other places. Some even had special "elemental" abilities. I recalled one story where one with light powers and another with shadow powers saved their village from a vengeful sorcerer... Ninja. It just sounded right. That's what I would become to save my home. Naturally, I didn't have a gi laying around. But I wasn't too bad with a needle and thread, and certainly there were instructions for how to make a costume gi online. Several hours, a bunch of cool purple and silver fabric, some confusing diagrams and a few very helpful tutorial videos later, I had a simple gi, complete with a belt and mask. Grabbing a pair of soft gray shoes I never thought I'd be able to use, I had a complete outfit. I put the gi on and faced the living room mirror (that makes it sound even weirder), and couldn't help but smirk. "Well, since you were so kind as to point out my poor fashion choices, what do you think now?" I made a quick movement with one hand in a gesture to punctuate the question- and was shocked to see a small blast of frost come from my hand and land on the mirror. "What the-" I covered my mouth before I said something I'd regret. Maybe I could've done the superhero suit. I tried to do it again, and after a little bit I managed to. It wasn't anywhere near enough to be useful for fighting or anything, but maybe I could get it to be stronger. Still, my mind raced with questions. Where did these powers come from? How long have I had them? How come I'm just now discovering them? I don't know how, but my eyes drifted down to the pendant resting on my chest, and I knew. I knew it had something to do with my powers. I took it off and sure enough, my abilities vanished. Did... My mom know about this? She was about my age when she got the pendant... After recovering from the initial shock, I realized how late in the day it had gotten, and how tired I was. I would have to wait until tomorrow to confront evil. The next morning, I was in fine form. In no time I was dressed in my new gi, had everything ready to go, and was out the door. The only thing I'd forgotten at first was my belt. But I consider that a victory compared to my normal forgetful blunders. Fully suited (including the elusive belt) and armed, I headed out to find... Whoever had started this madness. I had often snuck around town to avoid being seen by certain people (and some days when I was feeling especially self-conscious, people in general), so avoiding magically summoned beasts patrolling the town wasn't too difficult. I figured wherever they were, it would be guarded. There were several large buildings around town, most of them in decent shape, some of them empty and unused. I started with the one closest to my house and went from there. It was difficult to contain my excitement and anxiety. Nobody would believe that the quiet, timid little Linda Anderson took on the evil lord and saved the town. Goodness, I could hardly believe I was doing this. Not that anyone had any chance of seeing it right now. I was the only human out and about. I guessed everyone else was too afraid to leave their homes. Only black beasts, like shadows but solid, strolled through the streets uninhibited. I merely kept out of their sight, it was easier than fighting them even if it would help me to liberate my home. The first building was unguarded and undisturbed. No evil magic lord there. The second had more activity around it, but proved to be like the first. The third time really was the charm and I barely managed to slip inside without incident, and came face to face with the enemy. "Who are you?" He demanded with a growl. "A citizen of this village, and we want it back!" I snapped, angrier than I'd been in a long time. He scowled. "Do you really think I'd give it up after all the trouble I went through to take it? I don't plan on leaving anytime soon, and I'm certainly not going to listen to the demands of some dressed-up idiot like you. Can you even use those daggers in your belt?" I was taken aback. He'd seen right through me? I composed myself as a last hope of convincing him. "What does it matter? You want to try and find out?" "I do, actually." He replied , drawing a sword. Oh, no. He'd said the one thing I hadn't wanted him to say. Now he really was going to find out. I couldn't intimidate him, and I wasn't about to take him on when I hadn't ever taken a fighting class in my life. I did the only thing I felt I could do: I ran straight out of that place and back home. I could hear him laughing his head off as I left. "I am Soulis, a master of the dark arts. I am not someone to play games with." Soon I had several of the magical beasts chasing me, but I had desperation on my side, and outran them and made it to the house unscathed. Locking the door behind me, I fled to my room and threw myself on the bed. What on earth was I thinking!? I can't stand up for everyone and fight the evil magician to save us. Ugh, why is Ninjago's law enforcement so horrible? Then I wouldn't feel the need to take matters into my own hands. Look where it got me. How could I have been so stupid? Overwhelming anger and fear were replaced with deep sorrow and shame as I sobbed, letting tears flow freely. Nobody could see me here. But that also meant no one would come to help me and comfort me... "Mom... Dad... Come back... I miss you... I want you back." I moaned between sobs. But as I was ready to give up, a strangely warm breeze blew over me, soothing like a hug, until I was calm enough to fall asleep. I thought it odd, since the window was closed, but was too exhausted mentally to question it further as my eyelids grew heavy and I was lost to dreamland. Category:Stories Category:Short Stories Category:Incomplete Stories